Flights Out of Newark Airport Halted for Possible Security Breach | Newark Airport | Newark Lockdown | Newark Airport News | Newark News | Newark

Flights out of one terminal at Newark Liberty International Airport were temporarily halted Sunday night as officials investigated a possible security breach.

Officials took the action after a man was observed walking the wrong way down the exit lane between the secured, or “sterile,” area and the public area at around 5:20 p.m.

The Transportation Security Administration initially responded by stopping screening. But about two and a half hours later, the T.S.A. ordered all passengers on the sterile side to move back to the public side for rescreening.

While it was unclear who first alerted authorities to the potential breach, the individual was not an employee of the T.S.A., which is in charge of airport security, said an administration official.

The official said that flights out of the terminal – which mainly serves Continental Airlines – would likely resume after all passengers had been rescreened, regardless of whether the man is found.

Airline safety officials have been on heightened alert since the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound flight on Christmas Day, an incident that President Obama on Saturday linked to an Al Qaeda branch based in Yemen.



Security Breach Causes Lockdown At Newark Airport

It's possible that the individual simply got confused walking through the terminal and went the wrong way, but since the TSA cant verify that he had been screened, authorities need to find him. Terminal C has been evacuated.

Flights have been held at the terminal, and officials are looking at surveillance footage. Port Authority police are assisting in the search, and passengers have been asked to come back to be screened again.

Continental Airlines operates from Terminal C at Newark Airport.

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